Trigger can be appreciated on multiple levels. You can absolutely appreciate it on its own merits, as long as you don't expect a "female rockers take the stage again!" rock 'n roll reunion tour movie (because it isn't). Bruce McDonald himself described it as like My Dinner With Andre (which, if you don't know, is a film where most of the action is just two guys talking over dinner).

Kat and Vic -- the female leads of the band Trigger that split up years before -- get together for dinner prior to a benefit concert, for the first time in *years*. It is a talky, meditative, funny, cynical, wise, and ultimately hopeful and affirming movie about renegotiating old boundaries within the context of creative partnership and friendship -- where the sum of the two people is greater than the individuals apart and they both know it. There is a combination of admiration, resentment, and appreciation, as well as the rivalries and pettiness of siblings.

Trigger is worth your investment of time AS LONG AS YOU DON'T EXPECT A CONCERT FILM! Because it's not a rock performance film at all.

You can also appreciate Trigger as the originally intended sequel to Hard Core Logo (this is not a spoiler; this information was in the Canadian press and Bruce himself discussed it in interviews; it's also in Wikipedia).

And you can appreciate Trigger as Canadian actress Tracy Wright's last film before she died of pancreatic cancer at age 50.

Trigger has a wonderful cast and crew that is a who's who of Canadian film. And -- bonus -- Callum Keith Rennie has a bit part in this (as Billy!).

Both Kat and Vic are clearly wary of each other, and still view each other through the old lenses of their wild and raucous earlier years. While they both fall into old patterns, they also try valiantly to change those patterns in the now. The fragility of the selves they forged while apart becomes apparent, but so does their resiliency as ex-friends and collaborators.

SPOILERS BELOW: You can also view Trigger as a meditation on addiction (the title Trigger isn't just the name of their former band) -- addiction to substances, to patterns of behavior/thinking, to relationships/people/roles -- and an examination of the difficulty of breaking free of all that: the hope for preserving the best of the past while mending and reworking dysfunction for a better future, separately and together.

But if you've seen Bruce McDonald's previous film Hard Core Logo, there are other depths to Trigger. Trigger's genesis was in the late 90s as a sequel to Hard Core Logo. (Obviously, some post-HCL fixing would be required for that to occur.) Over the years of trying to make it happen, the scheduling for the original lead actors (Rennie and Dillon) never jived with McDonald's schedule. So McDonald had Daniel MacIvor rewrite Trigger for two female characters. This lovely, funny, bitter, cynical, and ultimately hopeful film is the happy result.

Kat moved to Los Angeles years before; she now makes lots of money but one senses her work is unfulfilling and soulless, and she has all the affectations of LA living. Vic stuck it out back in Canada, got her sh** together, kicked dope, and got her head back on straight. She is barely scraping by financially but artistically she seems to be experiencing a resurgence and that gives her "indie cred" (and maybe a chip on her shoulder).

As mentioned above, you can enjoy this movie on its own merits. But if you're a fan of HCL, you can squint and see Vic as Joe and Kat as Billy... which gives Trigger an added depth and poignancy (as if it wasn't poignant enough as Tracy Wright's last film).

Plot wise, both HCL and Trigger have benefit concerts in them -- and for the same ultimate purposes. But there is a twist at the end of Trigger which makes it the mirror negative of Hard Core Logo (except without the tragic ending, with a more hopeful ending). In that respect it is a lovely sequel to HCL, even if Joe and Billy aren't in it.

I really enjoyed this movie, and it bears repeat viewing for me (as a huge Hard Core Logo fan, and a big fan of Molly Parker). (I was less familiar with Tracy Wright, but she's one of those actresses who's been in a lot of bit parts in many things I've seen... I always liked her role as the boozy subordinate gas company employee who stays with her manager, David Cronenberg, in the film Last Night, making phone calls to the gas company customers on the day the world ends).

Movies that are heavily dialogue based don't come along very often. It is a difficult task to master and it requires some brilliant writing(MacIvor) and talented direction (MacDonald) to hold an audience's interest. Before Sunrise did this well, as did Before Sunset. The key elements are: a strong cast,and a subject that is important to more than just the characters on the screen.

This story takes place over the course of an evening. Following a montage of flashback scenes we find Vic (Tracy Wright)waiting for Kat (Molly Parker)in a restaurant where Vic does not want to be. She finds the place to be ostentatious, though Vic finds a much simpler way to say it. During the meal some light begins to shine on these two women and their oil and vinegar relationship.

After the restaurant, and a couple of flashes to what might have happened if, the camera journeys along with the pair to a 'Women in Music' tribute concert that just happens to be going on. Toronto at night gets some screen time as the drama of the reunion of the former friends continues.

If you are looking for a concert film, or the history of rock 'n' roll, then this is not the one for you. It is dialogue driven, rather than musically motivated. It is a story about relationships and life. There is one performance and that seems pretty amazing since the two have not see in each other in ten years. Sometimes the movie takes itself too seriously trying to offer the meaning of life, love and happiness through the words of a couple of former wannabe rock stars.

The performances by Molly Parker and Tracy Wright are compelling. There is a chemistry that makes the tension and competition between the women credible. Even after only knowing them for seventy-eight minutes the viewer is left caring about the characters and the outcome.

Vic (Tracy Wright) and Kat (Molly Parker) are childhood friends and former rock duo Trigger. Vic is a recovering drug addict and trying to live a stable life in Toronto. There is a benefit tribute titled Women in Rock and the duo is being celebrated. Vic is leery of Kat's wavering sobriety and selling out in L.A. as Kat returns to attend the tribute. They reconnect after breaking up some ten years earlier.

It's a talkative movie with Wright and Parker. There is a constant waiting for a reveal of what happened to their relationship. It doesn't necessarily satisfy in that sense but there is a surprise reveal. There are some solid relationship moments. It does lack something bigger or more dramatic. In the end, it's a shorter film that has a lot talk but some of it does go in circles.